Agtech Sweden

18 August 2025

Ulrik Svedin

Do you have an agricultural problem that you think can be solved with new technology? Or do you have the solution? Agtech Sweden at Linköping University can contribute research-based knowledge, development and start-up support.

Lecture. — Per Frankelius and Karolina Muhrman. Photographer: Ulrik Svedin

Agtech Sweden is a knowledge center and an innovation platform at Linköping University. The purpose of Agtech Sweden is to develop new technology for sustainable agriculture and spread knowledge about agricultural technology and innovation.

The focus is on new concepts based on sensors, digital technology and mechanics, and on new collaborations and ways of doing business.

“We don’t do just one thing. We take a broad perspective on agricultural problems and challenges,” says Karolina Muhrman, Chief Initiating Officer at Agtech Sweden.

Agtech Sweden’s main funders are Vinnova, Linköping University and Region Östergötland. It has been active for six years (formerly Agtech 2030), with more than 90 ongoing and completed projects involving more than 130 contracted parties.

“The parties co-finance the projects we work on. They work under contract with the innovation projects,” says Per Frankelius, Chief Initiating Officer at Agtech Sweden.

Many different projects are run simultaneously:

“It’s everything from developing new robot and drone concepts for plant cultivation to collecting methane in animal stalls, studying the effects of LED lighting on animals, to capturing plant sounds using AI,” says Karolina.

Here are examples of areas in which new technologies and innovations are being developed:

• Climate adaptation, such as droughts and floods
• Weed control
• Energy
• Soil health
• Animal welfare
• Profitability issues
• Clearer rules and regulations
• Working environment

Agtech Sweden puts a lot of energy into business intelligence, knowledge gathering and knowledge sharing. Its representatives have on several occasions given talks in the Swedish Parliament and to government ministers. They have also been invited to multiple conferences under the auspices of the European Commission and by various United Nations bodies to participate in discussions on international agricultural issues.

“We organize a lot of seminars to convey knowledge about new technologies and gather information about farmers’ needs. And we attend several major agricultural fairs, in Europe and Sweden, to network and give lectures on trends, new agricultural technologies, and all the projects we’re already involved in,” says Per Frankelius.

How is a project carried out within Agtech Sweden?

“We put together a team. Someone contacts us, with an idea or a problem. We have a network consisting of several thousand parties, such as technology companies, advisors, researchers and farmers who can contribute their expertise,” says Karolina Muhrman.

“We can also hand out a small start-up grant, but above all we can contribute knowledge about innovation and help apply for funding,” Per Frankelius adds.

Agtech Sweden collaborates with many different farms on the innovation projects, and has seven contracted so-called innovation farms, i.e. farms where new technology is developed together with farmers and advisors, that are used for various tests and development work.

Facts: Agtech Sweden

Coordinated by Linköping University, Agtech Sweden is a national innovation platform focused on technology development for sustainable agriculture.
More than 130 companies have completed more than 90 innovation projects within this framework.
The results have attracted international attention, including from the UN, and have led to several awards, patents and 30 scientific publications.
Agtech Sweden participates frequently at fairs, field days and conferences in Sweden and internationally.
The platform’s main funders are Vinnova, Linköping University and Region Östergötland.

Collaboration and dissemination of knowledge

Collaboration

AgTech Sweden at Linköping University cooperates with more than 130 contracted parties. Some of the parties involved in innovation projects:

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Lund University, University of Skövde, The Rural Economy and Agricultural Society, RISE, Linköping Science Park, Visual Sweden, AgroÖst, Vreta Kluster, Vreta utbildningscentrum, Sveriges frö- och oljeväxtodlare, Svenska Ägg, Drone Center Sweden, Kverneland, Saab, Väderstad and Dynorobotics.

International collaboration

Agtech Sweden cooperates with several agricultural organizations in Europe and worldwide. They have participated in several international meetings with the European Commission and in many different contexts with the United Nations.

Among other things, Agtech’s chief initiating officers were invited to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna to discuss satellite use in agriculture worldwide.

Seminars

Agtech Sweden’s representatives give lectures about the initiative and arrange forums and arenas to highlight not only new projects and finished products but also companies and organisations that drive innovation in agriculture.

Trade fairs

Agtech Sweden is represented at several of the major agricultural fairs. One example is that Agtech Sweden is planning a Nordic pavilion showcasing several companies at the world’s largest agricultural fair, Agritechnica in Hannover, this autumn. This year, Agtech has also participated at the Swedish fairs in Lidköping, Borgeby and Brunnby.
At the 2024 Elmia Agriculture fair, Agtech Sweden organized an innovation arena that not only attracted the media but also the Minister for Rural Affairs, Peter Kullberg, who visited the arena.

Projects - some examples

In six years, there have been over 90 ongoing and completed projects. Here are some examples:

Connected animals

A digital platform for monitoring livestock, such as cattle, via sensors. The purpose is to locate the animals in a pasture. The information from the sensors can be useful to the farmer in several ways.

Soil compaction

Agricultural machinery is becoming heavier, which results in soil compaction. This inhibits important processes that affect crop root development, such as water flows, biological life in and oxygen supply to the soil. Less oxygen supply leads to the release of nitrous oxide, which is a greenhouse gas. An Agtech 2030 team begun development of a system calculating the risk of soil compaction in real time. Through the now patented compaction prevention system, the farmer is supported in making, directly in the field, decisions that can avoid soil compaction. For this, the Agtech team won the world’s finest agricultural technology innovation award: ‘The Agritechnica Innovation Award’. The team consisted of: Elvestad Södergård, Tolefors Gård, Lovang Lantbrukskonsult, Linköping University, and others.

Cluckbot

Eggs that end up outside the nest are a problem on chicken farms. This leads to huge waste. Cluckbot is a robot that uses sound and light to teach the hens to lay their eggs in the nest. The robot is also equipped with a picker that can pick up any eggs ending up outside. The study resulted in a digital prototype that described the concept.
Dynorobotics, Vreta utbildningscentrum, Svenska Ägg and Tolek AB participated in the project.

Respiratory sensor

The technology came from Saab, and the idea was to use experiences from analyzing the health of fighter pilots during flight. This concept was transferred to civilian application and tested on cows. Monitoring the health of animals in livestock barns is very important. and respiratory sensors can be one way of doing this. The tests were conducted at Agtech Sweden’s innovation farm at Vreta utbildningscentrum.

Sonic Flora

New research shows that plants give away information in the form of ultrasound when they are exposed to stress, such as water shortages, physical damage or pest infestations. This discovery, described in a study published in the journal Cell, opens up the possibility for monitoring crop health in real time. The aim of the project is to develop a prototype in the form of one or more ultrasonic microphones that enable both localization and classification of health markers based on the sound of the plants.
In order to analyze these signals in real time and distinguish between different stress factors in plants, signal processing and machine learning (AI) are used. The aim is to achieve scientific validation that can lay the foundation for future commercial use. The project partners are Sonic Flora AB, SLU and Linköping University.

Contact

Placeholder for missing image of Magnus Samuelsson

magnus.samuelsson@liu.se

The picture shows a system for satellite-based portioning of liquid fertilizer.

Agtech Sweden aims to build up an innovation environment and activate a mobilisation aiming for tomorrow's agriculture.

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